Checks & Balances ICBA Successfully Defends Against FDIC Special Assessment BY STEPHEN KEEN, ICBA It’s not every day a financial crisis unfolds, and it’s certainly not something community bankers expect while attending the industry’s leading convention, ICBA LIVE. But that’s exactly what happened in the aftermath of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in March. It set the stage for a successful fight against the effort to force community banks to pay the price for the mismanagement of much larger, riskier financial institutions. ICBA’s national convention in Honolulu was already guaranteed to be one of the most memorable community banking events of the year. Community bankers from across the country arrived with plans to learn from industry experts, network with peers and explore products and services. But as news of the failure of Signature Bank sparked fears of contagion, community bank leaders found themselves taking on a new task: calming outside fears and protecting their banks from a special assessment to restore the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) deposit insurance fund (DIF) after the second and third largest bank failures in U.S. history. A typical crisis would require conference calls to coordinate logistics. With the majority of the nation’s community bankers gathered in one hotel, they were able to confer and act in real-time. REASSURANCE AND DIFFERENTIATION ICBA’s government affairs team quickly sprang into action, engaging in emergency meetings with bankers, staff, lobbyists and regulators. Recognizing that a special FDIC assessment was imminent, ICBA asserted that community banks should not have to pay for the sins of the largest banks. ICBA argued As soon as the news broke about Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, ICBA sprang into action, shielding community banks from paying for the failures of the megabanks. 16 | CURRENCY
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